DENVER — Multiple sources claim that a Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agent who accidentally recorded himself using a racial slur received leniency due to his close relationship with the agency's director.
It’s Feb. 14, 2024, and CBI Agent Doug Pearson is sitting in his state-issued vehicle waiting for the SWAT team to arrive on a scene.
While he’s waiting, he makes a phone call to a woman. After wishing her a happy Valentine’s Day and making a sexual innuendo, the woman brings up a mass shooting during the Kansas City Chiefs Champions Victory Parade.
After looking up some information on the shooting, Pearson speculates who might be responsible.
"Let me guess, f***ing n******."
The woman doesn’t respond to the racial slur, and they eventually move on to another topic before he ends the call.
Pearson doesn’t know it, but he accidentally activated his body-worn camera roughly 28 minutes earlier. The video continues for another nine minutes before ending. Due to the length of the video, it will be reviewed by CBI, per policy, and others will hear what Pearson said on that call.
But despite an internal investigation into the incident, multiple informed sources have told Denver7 Investigates that not enough was done in response to Pearson’s racial slur and that he was given leniency due to a close personal relationship with CBI Director Chris Schaefer.
Denver7 Investigates has communicated with at least four individuals — including current and former employees — one of whom spoke on camera in silhouette to protect their identity. All parties said they feared retaliation for speaking to the media. Denver7 Investigates confirmed their connections to CBI.
“They’re not being accountable. They are not being transparent,” the source who spoke in silhouette said of CBI leadership. “They don’t want to talk about it. They want to cover it up and move on.”
Denver7 Investigates obtained a partially redacted copy of the 20-page report from the internal affairs investigation. The report is dated April 29, 2024, roughly six weeks after the incident.
It notes that Pearson violated the department’s code of ethics and professional conduct policy by using a racial slur. He told investigators that "using the word while representing CBI is horrible,” adding that it is “not a normal term he uses in his everyday vocabulary.”
The report’s conclusion states that “such behavior of a CBI Agent would bring the CBI into disrepute if it was publicly known, and brings discredit upon Agent Pearson as an employee of CBI.” It ends by stating that it recommends the investigation be “sustained,” meaning the investigators feel they found enough evidence to support the allegations.
“Those 20 pages say that someone that's trusted to uphold the laws of the state of Colorado is a racist. He's out of control,” the informed source said. “I think it's absolutely disgusting. It rolled off his tongue so quickly, so cavalierly. That language is never acceptable, let alone from a law enforcement officer.”
A CBI spokesperson declined interview requests for both Pearson and Schaefer. An open records request for disciplinary action taken against Pearson for this incident was also denied. A statement from Schaefer notes that “the agent was investigated, the finding sustained and discipline issued.”
His full statement is below.
"Anyone else, in my opinion, that did what he did that day would no longer be working at the CBI today," Denver7's anonymous source said, adding that Pearson’s exact punishment remains unclear to them and others.
"I will tell you what didn't happen — what didn't happen is he was not suspended," they said. "He kept working. He's still actively involved in cases.”
Denver7 Investigates obtained a copy of Pearson’s time card from April 1 through Sept. 26. It does not show any time off for disciplinary reasons.
“I’m telling you right now, anyone else says that except Chris Schaefer’s best friend, they’re fired. I promise,” the source said.
The source also told Denver7 Investigates that it is well known that Schaefer and Pearson are close friends — going on trips together and speaking at conventions and with law enforcement groups.
Secondary employment records obtained by Denver7 Investigates show that Pearson and Schaefer have taught courses on outlaw motorcycle gangs for the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force.
A 2017 Facebook post from MCANSG, a California-based nonprofit that stands for Motorcycle Clubs Are Not Street Gangs, profiles Pearson as an outlaw motorcycle gang expert and specifically notes that he presents courses on the subject with Schaefer, who was not yet director of CBI at that time.
Also, a recent communication with a CBI spokesperson confirmed to Denver7 Investigates that Schaefer and Pearson have a “decades-long personal relationship.”
The informed source told Denver7 Investigates that this relationship is causing issues among CBI's rank-and-file members, some of whom feel that Pearson should have received a harsher punishment.
“They're angry. They're frustrated. Frankly, they're embarrassed this is allowed to happen,” the source said.
Another source, in a written communication, sent a statement that read: “The hard-working men and women of CBI deserve better and should not be subject to the ugliness of Pearson and the message Director Schaefer is sending by protecting his close friend.”
The source, who interviewed in silhouette, said more drastic steps need to be taken to repair the situation.
“Agent Pearson needs to be fired first of all — anybody else would have been. And honestly, I think Director Schaefer needs to step down. I think he is beyond saving this. I think he has done this for too long,” the source said. “I think he’s lost all credibility.”
